Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers and more star in My Chemical Romance’s short film ‘Prelude To The End’
My Chemical Romance have released *Prelude To The End*, a nine-minute animated short made with artist Lauren Tsai. Combining the world of Tsai’s *The Dying World* with the opening track from *The Black Parade*, it is part of the band’s celebrations marking the album’s 20th anniversary.
The story follows Astrid, a student who enters a surreal world of forgotten ideas after her sketchbook is discarded at her rubbish-strewn boarding school. Tsai voices Astrid, with Billie Eilish as her friend, Phoebe Bridgers as her sister, and Hideo Kojima and John C. McGinley also among the voice cast. The film is due to screen before the band’s final two Hollywood Bowl shows on 30 and 31 October, which conclude the US leg of their anniversary tour.
In short
- My Chemical Romance released a nine-minute animated short.
- Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers contribute voices.
- The film marks 20 years of *The Black Parade*.
Explained simply
My Chemical Romance are an American rock band whose 2006 album The Black Parade became one of their best-known records. Its opening song, “The End.”, introduces a story about a patient facing death, and the album is often treated as a connected work rather than a collection of unrelated songs.
Lauren Tsai is an artist whose imagined setting, The Dying World, provides the backdrop for the animated film. Its central character, Astrid, is a student drawn into a strange world after her sketchbook is thrown away; Tsai voices her, alongside musicians Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers and other cast members.
The project links the band’s anniversary celebrations with Tsai’s artwork and the album’s themes. It also forms part of a tour marking two decades since The Black Parade was released.
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